Hand Clutch Rant...

I cant answer your questions about shifting a wd/45. I push the clutch in, doesent seem that hard compared to some stuntman tricks a few of us on here have done in our lives, for sure and for certain.
I rarely mess with the non Power Director. I leave it locked up, no problems so far...

I can offer an opinion on people telling you you don't "need" an driveline clutch. Each to their own dealio, but of course you don't NEED one.

Even if I was rockin the gigantic FENDT on a 12 foot mower, id be headed to Princess Auto for a driveline clutch first...never mind a 69 year old tractor with unknown hours with a essentially "add on" pto unit. Not knocking it, I have a hotrodded 1950 WD, love it. Look at it as a " pre-emptive Driveline/Drive train structural deflection prevention/retirement assurance self contained ancillary non-OEM optional unit".

Might help.

TREV

I don't need an over riding clutch on the tractor to run my AC rotary cutter because the cutter has one.And yes I've shifted the gears with the hand clutch on a WD-45 just have to hit it just right.

When you disengage the hand clutch the PTO can't push the tractor causing you to run over things. So a overrunning clutch isn't needed. A slip clutch is needed for driveline protection. When you hit an immovable object something has to give you defenatly want it to be the slip clutch. An overrunning clutch is not drive line protection. It won't save your PTO gears when you strike that culvert that stops the mower dead. As for shiftling I often shift both my WD45s with the hand clutch. You can't be moving at all and you need to have HYTRANs in place of the 90 wt. the manual says the foot clutch is to be used for shifting. When I'm using the loade to move snow it's lots of back and forth I'm real busy so I use the hand clutch. Keeping the hyd live. When the bucket hits the ground the tractor stops. Change gears start raising the bucket pul the hand clutch and I'm going in the other direction with the bucket on the way back up.

I think what Aaron is trying to say is if you're mowing along and you don't see a deep washout and you go to make a panic stop at the last second, the average driver is going to stand on the clutch and brakes. The hand clutch isn't necessarily the one everybody would pull in a panic situation. It's because of that is why you definitely need the overrunning clutch on the PTO to eliminate the flywheel effect of the mower.

Edited by Brian Jasper co. Ia - 11 Jun 2018 at 7:35am

With oil not fully up to temp on a D-Series, it very well can "push" with the PD thrown into neutral. Have had it happen on multiple D15 and D17IV units and no longer mow into tight corners/along fence lines until it is good and hot. Slip clutch or overrunning clutch will prevent this and I run no overrunning clutch on the A-C cutter equipped with slip clutch in front of gear box, but newer Bush Hog is run with an overrunning attached at tractor pto shaft.If you have any doubt, run the overrunning clutch on the tractor pto splines as they are cheap insurance at 100.00 or less. Good idea to remove it and check it/lube it good occasionally as units sold today are not the quality of the past. And DO check the telescoping travel on the cutter pto shaft as adding the overrunning clutch adds length that is not very forgiving when you suddenly put it in a bind and damage tractor internals.Easy to cut the newer "oblong" shafts down for overrunning clutch length to prevent binding on a 3-pt. cutter, 5-7" usually does the trick. 

I grew up riding on the tool box of a WD. Rode all over the farm with Grandpa, don't ever remember him using the foot clutch or the brakes for that matter. He sat kind of side-saddle with both of his feet on the platform. I also remember him only using 2nd gear and reverse. I still have that tractor, 'I' have to use the foot clutch. Maybe I'm just impatient.

That WD is what got me started on this AC thing.

[QUOTE=Dakota Dave]When you disengage the hand clutch the PTO can't push the tractor causing you to run over things.